Starting next week, the Olympics will become a global conversation, and some brands will be linked to the athletes. One expert offers three tips to a strong Olympics themed campaign.

"There will be over 200 countries participating in the event, thereby presenting numerous opportunities for brands to connect with engaged local audiences around the world. Brands who are looking to engage a specific country should consider working with athletes who are favorites in those countries. By supporting local athletes in high growth markets, brands can target several regions more precisely. One of the things to keep in mind is what type of content people want. Based on the research commissioned by Upstream, 26 percent of consumers in developing markets are interested in health and fitness mobile services. With this knowledge, brands can create content around particular sports that are popular or trending in a particular country or area to drive engagement," said Marco Veremis, Upstream CEO.

Be conscious of the technological gap

"Many regions have limited WiFi access and our research found that 61 percent of people in developing markets are unsatisfied with their current mobile connection due to slow speeds and unreliability. The research also uncovered that web browsing was the most popular method of accessing mobile services (43%) followed by apps (40%) and SMS (14%). Brands will be more successful in reaching audiences in emerging markets by offering digital services using a technology agnostic approach. They should look to create "lite" apps that use up less data and employ a 0G to 4G strategy to reach all mobile users. Ensuring that content is reachable is just as important as making it relevant and engaging," said Veremis.

Remember different payment options

"It is critical to give consumers in emerging markets choices when it comes to paying for digital services. In countries such as Indonesia where more than 65 percent of the population is unbanked but mobile penetration is very high, direct carrier billing is a favorable alternative to the payment methods common in Western markets. To solve the issue of technological limits in certain emerging areas, brands should consider working with local mobile network operators (MNOs) to deliver content. By partnering with MNOs, brands can overcome the issue of mobile internet accessibility more rapidly and with less of their own investment. MNOs offer customer acquisition capabilities beyond simple SMS - there are more than 20 other ways that MNOs can engage with audiences through mobile including push notifications and SIM toolkit," said Veremis.